Protection for at-risk children ‘unsatisfactory’
The spending watchdog, the National Audit Office (NAO) urges the Department of Education (DfE) to “show a sense of urgency and determination” after three-quarters of local authority child protection services were found to be inadequate or requiring improvement.
The NAO found that demand for help and child protection is rising, with a 124% increase in the past 10 years in the number of serious cases where a local authority believes a child may be suffering, or likely to suffer, significant harm. Statistics have shown the increasing number of children in England that need the protection of local authorities with referrals to children’s social care increasing by 15% over the past 10 years from 552,000 in 2004 -05 to 635,600 in 2014-15.
In March 2015, 3% (391,000) children under the ages of 18 in England were assessed as being in need of help or protection and 635,000 children across England were referred after seeking help or having concerns raised by teachers, doctors, health visitors or members of the public during 2014/15. The most commons risks that have been identified result from domestic violence and mental health concerns.
The NAO have found that almost 80% of councils inspected by Ofsted over the past three years failed to meet the “good” rating for support to children needing protection. Some 26 out of 152 child protection departments are subject to Department for Education intervention after being rated “inadequate”.
But the NAO found that good performance was not related to levels of deprivation in an area, the number of children covered by the authority, or the amount spent on children in need.
Auditor general Amyas Morse has commented saying “Six years have passed since the department
To read more about child protection and the ways you can ensure your
*http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-37617619
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